With relocating to town we have realized that it may not be in our children's best interest to have two parents who commute over two hours each day. That means the fallout from finding a "someday" will mean also finding a new job for one of us.
That is a somewhat less thrilling prospect than a house.
We love our school and the students we work with. Both of us. We take joy in being able to serve this community with our skills in a way that makes it a better place. We are spoiled with a level of autonomy that is rare is this day and age as well as up-to-date tech like Smart boards and ipads in our rooms. And it is the ultimate joy to be able to work with my spouse every day.
But our own children must always be our first priority. And they need to be elsewhere.
So, who gets to job hunt? The one who is the most employable "outside".
Now I am praying for God to show me where he has for me to serve next. Your prayers would also be appreciated.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Someday is Now
We have embarked upon a new adventure, the adventure of buying our first home. Not our first home, because wherever we have lived has very much been home, but the first home that will belong to us. It has been a long wait, 17 years since we were married and started thinking of our "someday" house.
The journey always starts with a mortgage, and ours was an appointment with our local bank branch mortgage specialist. Apparently not just anyone can handle mortgages anymore, you need to be a specialist. Although we had our finances in order and have been dutifully saving since we finally conquered debt mountain last year, we were in still fear and trembling before our appointment Saturday morning. Since we are property virgins the possible problems lurked in our subconscious like dragons. But we walked out of the appointment with big smiles on our faces and full of hope. No dragons!
Unfortunately the first property we looked at wiped the smile right back off again.
Waterfront is on the wish list, as is an acre or more that is less than 20 minutes out of town. I would also love a newish house that doesn't need a new roof or windows, etc. I would love to redo floors and paint walls and even knock out a few walls down the road. However, I am not sure that we are up for major renovations quite yet or even in our first house.
The first candidate had the waterfront on a lovely small lake. It was 10 minutes from town. It wasn't an acre, but had a nice level of privacy. And the view was absolutely perfect! Neighbours and other houses around, but not stuck up cheek and jowl with one another. And I had spent enough time going over the online pics to convince myself that the problems would be cosmetic and this could very likely be our "someday".
But the house in reality. Oh, my. The house.
The most accurate word would be disappointing. It was an old place that had been moved from another location on the lot. There was a sagging ceiling that showed that the move may not have been done quite right. Brand new laminate floors were wavy. The new windows had ugly gold rim in between the panes - very eighties and not removable. Plus the wood stove in the basement and the outdoor wood stove were both shot, leaving an electric furnace which is the most expensive heating option. A dug well and no water treatment system made for a great big up front expense. Plus it was clear that the sellers were very attached to their asking price, which was somewhat inflated. All things considered not our "someday".
Seeing our clear disappointment, our realtor took the time to give us detailed tour of the whole town, pointing out houses that have been sold in the last few years and the prices. The man is an encyclopedia of real estate! We came out of that with a much more realistic perspective of what we can afford for our first house. Waterfront will be for our retirement.
We are also motivate to cut out spending on wants and sock money into savings at an accelerated pace. So no more new shoes for me. No more lenses for LK. No more stuffed friends for Jo, and Fi will have to live with free apps. We joked about sending the dog to my parents to be fed, but maybe that is overkill.
The journey always starts with a mortgage, and ours was an appointment with our local bank branch mortgage specialist. Apparently not just anyone can handle mortgages anymore, you need to be a specialist. Although we had our finances in order and have been dutifully saving since we finally conquered debt mountain last year, we were in still fear and trembling before our appointment Saturday morning. Since we are property virgins the possible problems lurked in our subconscious like dragons. But we walked out of the appointment with big smiles on our faces and full of hope. No dragons!
Unfortunately the first property we looked at wiped the smile right back off again.
Waterfront is on the wish list, as is an acre or more that is less than 20 minutes out of town. I would also love a newish house that doesn't need a new roof or windows, etc. I would love to redo floors and paint walls and even knock out a few walls down the road. However, I am not sure that we are up for major renovations quite yet or even in our first house.
The first candidate had the waterfront on a lovely small lake. It was 10 minutes from town. It wasn't an acre, but had a nice level of privacy. And the view was absolutely perfect! Neighbours and other houses around, but not stuck up cheek and jowl with one another. And I had spent enough time going over the online pics to convince myself that the problems would be cosmetic and this could very likely be our "someday".
But the house in reality. Oh, my. The house.
The most accurate word would be disappointing. It was an old place that had been moved from another location on the lot. There was a sagging ceiling that showed that the move may not have been done quite right. Brand new laminate floors were wavy. The new windows had ugly gold rim in between the panes - very eighties and not removable. Plus the wood stove in the basement and the outdoor wood stove were both shot, leaving an electric furnace which is the most expensive heating option. A dug well and no water treatment system made for a great big up front expense. Plus it was clear that the sellers were very attached to their asking price, which was somewhat inflated. All things considered not our "someday".
Seeing our clear disappointment, our realtor took the time to give us detailed tour of the whole town, pointing out houses that have been sold in the last few years and the prices. The man is an encyclopedia of real estate! We came out of that with a much more realistic perspective of what we can afford for our first house. Waterfront will be for our retirement.
We are also motivate to cut out spending on wants and sock money into savings at an accelerated pace. So no more new shoes for me. No more lenses for LK. No more stuffed friends for Jo, and Fi will have to live with free apps. We joked about sending the dog to my parents to be fed, but maybe that is overkill.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
ipod
This Christmas it was somewhat tricky to find a gift for the big Sprout. She is of the age where dolls and such are not really appealing, although the ones in her room are still not quite ready to move to new homes. She likes clothes, but who wants only clothes for gifts (I mean other than me)? We were going to purchase her a telescope to feed her passion for astronomy, but her enthusiasm for it was a bit mild. We knew that her heart longed for a puppy, but we were not ready to take that step yet.
In the end we relaxed our self-imposed age limit for an ipod (10 years old) and bought one for this Christmas. We were very nervous about her use of it. We ourselves have battled with tech-addictions (and still do), so we didn't want to send our child down that path at age 9.
As it turns out, she is finding all sorts of creative and amazing ways to use her ipod. Music is the obvious use. Apps for entertainment are also obvious. But on top of those she also hunts online for answers to her questions when we don't know the answers, which is becoming more frequent of late. Now she has learned to track the International Space Station in the sky. And translate Morse Code.
All of a sudden my mind has exploded with the possibilities for use in the classroom. I know that I am very late to this party; there are many teachers out there who are doing amazing things with ipods in their classrooms. But I am wondering how I can integrate it into learning with my older students to help them see the ipod as more than a toy, and see their education as more than a waste of their days until they are old enough to choose to spend them glued to their toys.
In the end we relaxed our self-imposed age limit for an ipod (10 years old) and bought one for this Christmas. We were very nervous about her use of it. We ourselves have battled with tech-addictions (and still do), so we didn't want to send our child down that path at age 9.
As it turns out, she is finding all sorts of creative and amazing ways to use her ipod. Music is the obvious use. Apps for entertainment are also obvious. But on top of those she also hunts online for answers to her questions when we don't know the answers, which is becoming more frequent of late. Now she has learned to track the International Space Station in the sky. And translate Morse Code.
All of a sudden my mind has exploded with the possibilities for use in the classroom. I know that I am very late to this party; there are many teachers out there who are doing amazing things with ipods in their classrooms. But I am wondering how I can integrate it into learning with my older students to help them see the ipod as more than a toy, and see their education as more than a waste of their days until they are old enough to choose to spend them glued to their toys.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Perfect
We woke up this morning to over a foot of fresh powder everywhere. It is gorgeous! This much snow makes us feel like we can hunker down at home and feel snowed in without actually being trapped. It is the best wintertime feeling.
After a nice slow start to the day we all piled on winter gear and went out to play and shovel. An hour and a half later we had shovelled two driveways, a path to the garbage bin, and exhausted the puppy (and the Sprouts). We have a pile ready for a quinzy later today or tomorrow morning that will keep us entertained for hours once the winter gear dries.
To top it all off, the Sprouts came to the kitchen ready for lunch about ten minutes ago. Tearing myself away from Pinterest, I started to think about lunch options. But they decided that they were going to make their own. So Jo and Fi are talking through their snadwich prep while I sit at the table and blog. What more could a mom ask for?
Maybe they will make mine too...
After a nice slow start to the day we all piled on winter gear and went out to play and shovel. An hour and a half later we had shovelled two driveways, a path to the garbage bin, and exhausted the puppy (and the Sprouts). We have a pile ready for a quinzy later today or tomorrow morning that will keep us entertained for hours once the winter gear dries.
To top it all off, the Sprouts came to the kitchen ready for lunch about ten minutes ago. Tearing myself away from Pinterest, I started to think about lunch options. But they decided that they were going to make their own. So Jo and Fi are talking through their snadwich prep while I sit at the table and blog. What more could a mom ask for?
Maybe they will make mine too...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
